As is widely known, during the combustion of fuel an internal combustion engine generates an exhaust that travels through a vehicle exhaust system where it is finally emitted into the atmosphere as an emission. The majority of these vehicle emissions are composed of nitrogen, water vapor, and carbon dioxide with smaller portions of this exhaust composed of undesirable and toxic components, such as particulates, carbon monoxide (generally from incomplete combustion), hydrocarbons (generally from unburnt fuel), and nitrogen oxides (generally from excessive combustion temperatures). These undesirable and toxic components are known pollutants and when present within the atmosphere extensively contribute to the proliferation of smog, formation of acid rain, greenhouse gasses, and can irritate airways in the human respiratory system.
Currently there are several solutions being developed and utilized to combat the proliferation and generation of these undesirable components and pollutants. One such solution is to eliminate or reduce the use of vehicles utilizing an internal combustion engine by biking, walking, carpooling, utilizing public transportation, driving low speed vehicles (LSV), and operating electric vehicles. Unfortunately, each of these solutions have drawbacks that prevent them from being permanent and large-scale solutions.
One other common solution is the use of a device, such as a catalytic converter, to alter or convert the harmful emissions at the molecular level. At its most basic, the catalytic converter uses heat and a structure, such as a mesh, having a large surface area that is comprised of and coated with a variety of molecules and elemental metals for generally participating as a catalyst in a redox reaction to remove the unwanted molecules and pollutants.
Although catalytic converters are generally useful for their intended purpose, they do have several drawbacks. First, to be efficient, the catalytic converter must be hot to enable the redox reaction required to clean the received exhaust. Accordingly, as the catalytic converter utilizes the heat of the exhaust for its operation, it is often inefficient when utilized on a cold engine at startup. This feature is particularly problematic as the most harmful emissions are generated upon the startup of a cold engine. Further, overtime catalytic converters have a tendency become poisoned wherein substances within the exhaust coat the working surfaces of the catalytic converter preventing the standard reaction. Still further, the inherent design properties of the catalytic converter may restrict the flow of exhaust from the engine resulting in power loss, wherein the overall horsepower of a given vehicle may be slightly reduced.
Therefore, there is a need within the marketplace for an improved pollution remediation device configured for placement in line with a vehicle exhaust system. Preferably, this device is reliable, efficient, and configured for easy installation onto an existing vehicle or other devices utilizing an internal combustion engine. Preferably, this device is configured for easy addition and removal for cleaning and maintenance and configured with features to enable operation without the addition of an external power source.